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Raaz (2002 film)

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Raaz
Theatrical poster
Directed byVikram Bhatt
Written byMahesh Bhatt
Girish Dhamija
Screenplay byMahesh Bhatt
Girish Dhamija
Produced byMukesh Bhatt
Kumar S. Taurani
Ramesh S. Taurani
StarringDino Morea
Bipasha Basu
Malini Sharma
Ashutosh Rana
Narrated byMahesh Bhatt
CinematographyPravin Bhatt
Edited byAmit Saxena
Music byNadeem-Shravan
Production
companies
Distributed byTips Industries
Release date
  • 1 February 2002 (2002-02-01)
Running time
152 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹50 Million
Box office₹370 Million[1]

Raaz (transl. Secret) is a 2002 Indian supernatural horror film directed by Vikram Bhatt. The film stars Dino Morea and Bipasha Basu in lead roles, with Malini Sharma and Ashutosh Rana in supporting roles. The story follows Aditya and Sanjana who are a couple and have moved to Ooty to save their failing marriage. However, what they find in their new home is more than they expected when a ghost starts haunting the place. The wife (Sanjana) soon realises that her husband (Aditya) is part of a ghostly and scary conspiracy, which she must solve to restore their relationship.[2] The film is an unofficial adaptation of the American film What Lies Beneath (2000).[3][4]

It was the second-highest-grossing film of the year 2002 being the most profitable venture and the first instalment in the Raaz series. Basu's performance was highly praised and earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 48th Filmfare Awards. Nadeem-Shravan's music also earned them several Filmfare Award nominations. American entertainment publication Collider has considered it better than the original.[5]

The film was shot in places across Ooty including The Lawrence School, Lovedale. The voices for the leading cast were dubbed by professional artists; Mona Ghosh Shetty dubbed for Basu, Namrata Sawhney dubbed for Sharma, and Bhatt himself dubbed for Morea.[6][7]

A spiritual sequel to the film was released on 23 January 2009, under the title Raaz: The Mystery Continues and the third installment of the series titled Raaz 3 was released in 3D on 7 September 2012. A fourth film, Raaz Reboot, was released on 16 September 2016.

Plot

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In Ooty, a group of college students are picnicking in a forest. One of the girls, Nisha, dies under paranormal circumstances after inexplicably attacking her boyfriend. While she was being rushed to the hospital, just before dying, her face and voice changes completely, confusing the doctors. Professor Agni Swaroop, who is supposedly an expert of supernatural beings, is called by police to look into the matter. After investigating, Swaroop concurs that she was possessed by an evil spirit. He reveals that this spirit has awakened for a purpose and will not stop until that purpose is fulfilled.

Sanjana and Aditya Dhanraj are a married couple living in Mumbai. During a business party, Aditya gets too involved with his associates, leaving Sanjana isolated. Furious, she leaves the party. On her frantic drive home, she hears a voice in her head and crashes after losing control. She manages to escape the accident unscathed. After her recovery, Sanjana asks her husband for a divorce; Aditya, however, realises his fault and suggests a vacation to work out their problems. Sanjana chooses to return to Ooty, where their relationship first began. They stay in the bungalow behind which Nisha was attacked. Sanjana starts experiencing mysterious events, including hearing a woman screaming in the forest. On the other hand, Aditya brushes her concerns away, blaming it all on the sleeping pills that Sanjana takes. From another cleaning staff who visits the house on Aditya's order, Sanjana learns that their previous caretaker Robert has not been visiting the home and has disappeared without a trace. She decides to visit Robert's wife who tells her that he changed and became scared whenever anyone mentioned the guest house. She also told her that he used to hear strange voices from the forest, just like Sanjana.

Sanjana's friend Priya advises her to visit Professor Swaroop after she tells her about these strange incidents. Swaroop arrives and suspects the presence of a spirit in the house. Before leaving, he hands Sanjana a lemon and asks her to check on it after sunset, making sure it doesn't change its color. A hysterical Sanjana, upon seeing the lemon turn red, informs Aditya about their home being haunted. However, Aditya is far from believing her and thrashes Swaroop for misrepresentation. An urgent phone call from Mumbai forces the couple to go back, but they get stuck due to landslide; Aditya decides to leave alone and come back later for Sanjana. After he leaves, Priya insists Sanjana to come with her but she stubbornly denies as she wants to know the truth.

The next night, Professor Swaroop revisits the same spot in the forest where Nisha was attacked, accompanied by Priya and Sanjana. On his advice, Sanjana goes alone to talk to the spirit and discovers a revolver. They go to an arms store and are told by that the revolver was licensed to a retired colonel, Arjun Malik. They visit the colonel and learn that the spirit is his daughter, Malini, who was mentally ill and had escaped from the mental asylum several times before suddenly disappearing. The colonel also tells them that from that day, his revolver had also disappeared.

Sanjana summons the spirit, believing it wants to tell her something. She learns that Aditya had an extramarital affair with Malini; upon confronting Aditya, he admits to the affair and that he had stayed at the very cottage. Aditya had rebuked Malini's demands that he leave his wife and an enraged Malini committed suicide in front of Aditya in order to frame him for murder. Aditya, with the help of Robert, buried her body in the forest.

Sanjana resents Aditya. Swaroop tells her that this was an attempt by Malini's spirit to separate Sanjana and Aditya, and its next step would be to kill Aditya.

Sanjana goes to Aditya and tells him that she is doing this just to save him and that they should leave for Mumbai immediately. Sanjana turns out to be Malini's spirit in disguise. The real Sanjana, Priya, and Swaroop arrive at the cottage, where the bewildered maid tells them that Aditya had just left in the car with her.

Malini's spirit runs the car off a cliff and Aditya is hospitalized. To stop the spirit, Sanjana, Priya and Swaroop enter the forest to locate Malini's body and burn it. The spirit attacks the trio, killing Swaroop and possessing him While being pursued, Sanjana finds Robert's corpse hanging on a tree. She manages to find a petrol can and burns down Malini's body.

At the hospital, Aditya is saved and Sanjana gets a congratulatory applause.

Cast

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Box office

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Raaz released on 1 February 2002 and grossed ₹370 million (equivalent to ₹1.4 billion or US$17 million in 2023) and was declared a "blockbuster" by Box Office India.[8]

Reception

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Webindia123.com said that Raaz is "something different from the current trend...Raaz is a psycho-thriller worth a look". The film was praised because of its unique story.[9]

Awards

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48th Filmfare Awards:

Nominated

Music

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The music of Raaz was released on December 8th 2001[10] and was composed by the duo Nadeem-Shravan, while the lyrics were penned by Sameer. Singers Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet, Sarika Kapoor, Jolly Mukherjee and Bali Brahmbhatt lent their voices for the songs. It was the third best selling bollywood soundtrack album of the year and its songs gained huge popularity and became huge hits.[11] According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, the soundtrack sold 30,00,000 units, contributing to the film’s Blockbuster success.[12]

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Aapke Pyaar Mein Hum"Alka Yagnik5:30
2."Itna Main Chaahoon" (Not In The Film)Udit Narayan & Alka Yagnik5:21
3."Jo Bhi Kasmein"Udit Narayan & Alka Yagnik5:40
4."Kitna Pyaara Hai"Udit Narayan & Alka Yagnik4:21
5."Main Agar Saamne"Abhijeet & Alka Yagnik5:46
6."Mujhe Tere Jaise" (Not In The Film)Udit Narayan & Sarika Kapoor5:25
7."Pyaar Se Pyar Hum" (Not In The Film)Abhijeet5:30
8."Yeh Sheher Hai"Jolly Mukherjee, Bali Brahmbhatt, Suzanne D'Mello4:53

Release

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The film was dubbed in Tamil as Rahasyam.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (2 January 2002). "Raaz Box Office Collection | India | Day Wise | Box Office - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Raaz". ApunKaChoice.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  3. ^ "When Vikram Bhatt's 2002 Film Raaz Surprised Many Big Stars In Box Office". News18. 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Dino Morea on Raaz clocking 20 years: The off screen romance with Bipasha helped us on screen". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 31 January 2022. While Morea says it wasn't an official remake, there were references that were taken from the Robert Zemeckis directed Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer starrer.
  5. ^ "7 Bollywood Remakes That Are Better Than The Original Movie". Collider. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  6. ^ "What's the raaz behind Bipasha's voice?". Rediff.com.
  7. ^ "BBC - Shropshire - Movies - Raaz". BBC.
  8. ^ "Raaz". Box Office India.
  9. ^ Raaz is different Archived 24 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Webindia123.com, Retrieved on 15 December 2008
  10. ^ https://m.rediff.com/movies/2001/dec/08mr.htm
  11. ^ "Raaz Movie All Songs || Audio Jukebox || Dino Morea | Bipasha Basu | Bollywood Movie Songs". YouTube. 27 September 2023.
  12. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20100205042845/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=286&catName=MjAwMC0yMDA5
  13. ^ "Rahasyam". www.chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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